Expectation

Matt 8:13b "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."

Expectation. When you look this word up in Websters it means: " the state of looking forward, to anticipate, to consider probable or certain." When I was a kid I loved Christmas morning. (I still do.) The night before, I would go to bed expecting that when I got up there would be gifts under the tree that I would be able to open and that I would like. When I got up in the morning, I was not disappointed. I was right, and there were gifts of cool things under the tree. (Sure, I got that occasional bummer of a gift, but that was the exception, not the rule.) I looked forward to Christmas morning. I anticipated what I would see and get. I was certain that this was going to happen the next morning.

This guy that came to Jesus was really an amazing Roman. He was a centurion who had a sick servant. This centurion loved this servant and so he did the only thing he could think to do to resolve his servant's problem…he went to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus heard his request, offered to come with him and heal his servant, and this guy did an amazing thing. He believed that Jesus did not even have to come to heal his servant, all He had to do was speak the word. What faith. What belief. What expectation. This guy knew in his inner man that if Jesus said "Be healed" it would happen, no matter what the distance between the healer and the healee.

So Jesus said to this guy: "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." Jesus knew this guy's heart. Jesus knew that this centurion's heart was full of expectation. He knew that the centurion expected to go back home and find his servant healed. He looked forward to it, he anticipated it, he was certain of it. So much so, he walked away with confidence…and it happened.

This is a real challenge for me because I find that sometimes my expectation quotient is lacking. Do I expect to go to heaven? Yes. But what else do I expect God to do…so much so that I walk away with confidence? Do I expect Him to meet certain needs? If I do, do I live like it? Do I expect Him to work in people's lives? If so, do I give up worrying about stuff? Do I expect Him to work out plans? If so, do I let go of control? My problem is that I rely on me too much and I don't give God room to work. I think that if it is going to get done, I will get it done. The Centurion was not like this. He knew he could not get this done. He was helpless and he relied upon the One who could meet his expectations.

What a lesson for me.